The present invention relates to a removable attachment for ladders which permits the extension of one rail of a ladder. The present invention permits the ladder rungs to remain level when the ladder rails are positioned upon an uneven surface.
In occupation such as construction, painting, utility servicing, building maintenance and other occupations wherein a ladder is required to perform the work, ladder placement is often a problem. Many times the ladder must be placed upon uneven or inclined surfaces for the work to be performed. At times common obstacles such as stair steps may interfer with a desirable ladder placement.
However, for a ladder to perform its intended function in a safe manner the ladder rails must be situated in a vertical position. A ladder placed upon an uneven surface raises the chances of a worker injury due to a ladder related failure. When a ladder is placed upon an uneven surface and a worker scales the ladder, serious injury may result to the worker because of a fall caused by the tilt in the ladder. The fall is usually caused by the center of gravity being offset from a point centrally located between the pair of ladder rails. As the worker scales a ladder placed on a uneven surface, a natural shift in the ladder center of gravity occurs. The ladder will pivot about one rail when the center of gravity extends outside of a ladder rail, thus causing the ladder and worker to fall.
In the past, items such as phone books, rocks, and pieces of lumber if available, were commonly placed under one leg of an otherwise tilting ladder. Use of such items may result in insufficient stability in the ladder, therefore, resulting in an accident. In addition, workers who constantly use ladders need a device that will not affect, such as by removal, the use of a ladder when placed upon a level surface.
Ladder levelers generally tend to fall into two categories. One category is the type of ladder levelers that are permanently affixed to a ladder. The other category being the type of ladder levelers that may be readily detached from the ladder when not needed. In most applications the worker prefers a ladder leveler which falls into the latter category. This is due to the simple fact that the worker need not make adjustments or deal with the ladder leveler when the ladder is placed upon a level surface. When confronted with the situation wherein the ladder must be placed upon an uneven surface, the worker desires a ladder levelling device that may be easily and readily attached thereto. Another consideration for ladder levelers is that the device have an optimized incremental adjustment in the extension of the ladder rail, so as to fully compensate for the uneven surface. Optimized incremental adjustment of the ladder leveler is required to place the ladder rails in a vertical position by effectively extending the length of the rail positioned upon the lower surface.
The typical removable ladder leveler generally includes a sliding leg member positioned within an outer sleeve member. The outer sleeve member is combined with a pair of brackets that encompass a portion of a ladder rail along with providing a notch in the brackets to receive a ladder rung. Generally, the brackets are positioned on one side of the sleeve member to permit easy removal of the leveler from the ladder. By positioning the two brackets on one side of the ladder, as easily as the device attaches to the ladder it will also fail to remain securely engaged upon the ladder. Therefore, in certain situations the ladder leveler will have a tendency to twist off of the ladder, resulting in a possible user accident.
It is therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a safe and easily installed ladder leveler for leveling a ladder positioned upon an uneven or inclined surface.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a ladder leveler which extends the length of a ladder rail by optimized incremental adjustments.